When Megan didn’t answer, Jenna nudged her. “New project?”
“Oh, you know. Nothing you’d want to see.” Megan tilted the phone away.
“That only makes me want to see it more, you know.”
Megan smiled. “You’re so easy.”
Jenna poked her in the side. “Are you going to show me? Or should we argue back and forth some more?”
“Fine.” Megan’s tone sounded annoyed, but Jenna caught the small smile on her lips.
Megan leaned closer and pressed play. “Claim Your Ghost,” the song Jenna and Jackson had listened to that night on the back porch, began while the screen was still dark. The moment the video started, Jenna’s mouth fell open. It featured clips of Jenna and Jackson from the past six weeks, starting with the day in the elevator. She watched as Beau half-dragged her up the stairs. It was embarrassing to see herself in that sweaty state, passed out on the couch. But then it zoomed in on Jackson’s hand stroking hers. The camera moved up to his face, capturing a look of concern and love that almost made Jenna gasp.
There weren’t audible words, only tiny moments of their relationship. Megan had caught Jackson’s hand resting on Jenna’s lower back. His fingers brushing her hair back from her face. Jenna’s laughter at something Jackson said. Her head nestling into his neck, pressing a kiss there. Each moment more precious than the last.
Tears slid silently down her cheeks and she didn’t realize that she had grabbed Megan’s hand until the video faded to black. Jenna closed her eyes.
“Wait—it’s not over yet.”
Looking down on the screen, Jenna saw her beach cottage. The music had faded away. She didn’t recognize this moment. The camera followed Jackson as he walked to the fireplace and then turned around with a huge smile. He put his finger to his lips, then reached up for the ring box.
Jenna’s heart stopped. Jackson flipped open the box and the camera zoomed in on a gorgeous and simple diamond ring. It panned back up to his face, still smiling, but with tears shining in his eyes now.
“I want to ask you something, Monroe. I think it’s about time,” Jackson said from the video.
The video went black again and Jenna’s gaze snapped to Megan. An unfamiliar smile, not unlike the Cheshire cat, spread over her face. “Is that … it?”
“Down here, Monroe.”
Jackson’s voice carried up the stairs and Jenna gasped. While her eyes had been glued to the small screen in front of her, Jackson had moved to the bottom of the tower room stairs, surrounded by their friends. He knelt on one knee, and his expression was the same as the video: a huge smile and glistening eyes. Behind him, their friends formed a half-circle around him, all smiling up at her.
Jenna’s hand flew to her chest, as though she could still the wild beating of her heart. “Jackson—what?”
He laughed. “Welcome to your proposal, Jenna. I’ve been waiting what feels like a really long time for this moment. Most of my life, if I’m being honest. I want to spend the rest of my life beside you. I want more moments like the ones in the video, big and small. I love you, Monroe. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Jenna didn’t realize that several moments had passed until Megan nudged her, nodding toward Jackson. “Are you going to answer him?” she whispered.
“Oh!”
There were chuckles from downstairs. Jenna stood, suddenly sure that she was going to fall down all seven steps. She gripped the banister so hard that her knuckles turned white. Jackson seemed to read her mind.
“I’ve got you, Monroe.”
She smiled because she knew he did. Jackson took her hand when she reached the bottom. The ring sat in his other palm, waiting. She could almost feel its weight on her finger already.
Jackson squeezed her hand. “Jenna Monroe, love of my life, I promise you my faithfulness and love until death do us part. Will you marry me? Will you be mine, forever?”
This was the moment Jenna hadn’t thought to hope for six weeks ago. She had been lost and bitter, defeated and heavy. Love seemed like an impossibility, and love with Jackson Wells would never have crossed her mind. But he had swept into her life like the Nor’easters that sometimes battered the island. God had used him to help heal her, to help her let go and find peace again. She wanted to remember the love in his eyes and the way his smile lifted a little more at the right corner than the left.
“Are you going to answer me, Monroe?” Jackson almost whispered, a smile playing on his lips.
“Yes.”
His grin widened, and Jenna knew her own rivaled his. “Yes, you’re going to answer me or yes, you’ll marry me?”
“Yes to both.”
Before she could react, Jackson stood and swept her into his arms. There was cheering and clapping all around them, but Jenna couldn’t focus on anything but the man holding her. Jackson slid the ring on her finger and, before she could even admire it, he claimed her mouth in a searing kiss.
Jenna gasped into his mouth, but her surprise faded almost instantly into heated passion and something weightier. In every glide of his lips against hers, it felt like Jackson was promising to love, cherish, and honor her, as though he was already making his vows through the kiss.
It wasn’t just her body waking up and responding to the kiss. She felt like Jackson stirred her very soul. He had resurrected her hope. With him, she felt like faith was possible again. Not just a trust in him, because he would let her down sometimes. But a hard-won belief that God held her in his hands. Jackson’s love reminded her of how treasured and precious she was to God.
After what didn’t feel like nearly enough time, Jackson pulled back. Jenna threaded her hands through his hair, keeping him close, not even caring that their friends were still nearby. They had retreated to the kitchen, where she heard the popping of a cork. After feeling so self-conscious and worried all week, she felt clingy and needy. She didn’t want to move even an inch away from Jackson right now.
This close, it was hard to focus on both of his eyes, but she tried, needing this connection. “This whole week I thought you were going to break up with me,” she whispered.
His head jerked back. “What? Why?”
“You’ve been acting so different, avoiding me or just being aloof.”
Understanding passed over his features. “That’s called me trying to keep a secret and being really nervous. I’m so sorry I made you think that.”
“Now I feel really silly for being worried.”
“I hope you’re not feeling worried anymore. That’s the last thing I want you thinking about or feeling right now.”
Jenna placed a kiss at the corner of his mouth. “I’m feeling a lot of things right now, but worried isn’t one of them.” Her voice sounded low and husky, drawing out a brilliant smile that made her want to start kissing him again.
“Okay, happy couple! Time to celebrate!” Beau called.
Taking her hand, Jackson led Jenna over to the group by the wide kitchen island. There were glasses of champagne and sparkling cider.
Beau led the toast. “To love: the kind that knocks us off our feet and changes the course of our life.” Jenna didn’t miss the way Beau looked at Mercer when he spoke. He raised his glass, and everyone clinked theirs together. “To Jackson and Jenna, and to love!”
“To love!”
As she set her glass on the counter, Jackson wound a strong arm around Jenna’s waist and pulled her away from the group to the balcony. When they were alone, his lips found her ear, sending a spark all the way down to her toes.
“I hope it’s okay that this wasn’t a flashy proposal. I thought about doing something really big and extravagant, but this felt like a better fit for you.”
Jenna pulled back enough to look him straight in the eyes. “This was perfect.”
A smile tugged up the corners of his mouth. “My other idea was to trap you in the elevator until you said yes.”
Jenna threw back her head and laughed. “You might have gotten a d
ifferent answer if you tried that, Jax.”
He kissed her neck, just below her ear and she tried to hold back a squeal. “No way. You can’t resist me, Monroe.”
She knew that he was right. She couldn’t resist Jackson. As she leaned into the warmth of his body and the security of his tender kisses, surrounded by their friends, Jenna was so glad that she had stopped trying.
* * *
THE END
Keep reading about Sandover with Jimmy’s story, Sandover Beach Week!
A Note From Emma
I got the idea for this book while stuck in an elevator at Nag’s Head. Not with a handsome man like Jackson, but two girls I had met like an hour beforehand. And, of course, I was the one who opened the door while the elevator was moving. It simply HAD to go in a book!
This is an updated version of my second book, Sandover Beach Memories. I was really happy with the book when I finished, but as I wrote more and read more, I realized there were some things I wanted to fix. Originally, there was more of a love triangle. I’ve grown to hate those and readers don’t like them as much either. In this version, Steve is definitely not contending for Jenna and it works much better. I also made a few more tweaks and think it works much better now.
A few real-life inspirations that made it into the book:
I drink a pot of coffee before bed almost every night. I started when I worked at Borders Book store in the café. I drank coffee constantly through my shifts and it broke me. So now, I do coffee and then go right to bed. I know. It’s weird.
Right before my husband proposed, I went through something similar to Jenna. My mom perpetuated this by calling and telling me that Rob (my hubby) hadn’t asked my dad for permission—something that mattered to me. Honestly? I would have married my husband the first week we were dating (long story as to why). So, this was over a year later and I couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t proposing. Hearing he hadn’t asked my dad made me think it was NEVER happening. But my mom was messing with me and the next day my hubby took me on a full day-long scavenger hunt with a ring at the end. I felt foolish being so worried, but it was a real thing.
Growing up in Richmond, VA, we had a store called Ukrops that was local and family-owned. It was a huge thing for Richmonders to shop there, even though it was more expensive. The kids didn’t want to keep it, so now it’s gone, but anyone who grew up there might understand how Bohn’s took its inspiration from Ukrops.
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Thanks so much to my amazing beta readers and proofreader: Marsha, Judy, Leslie, Vicky, and Patty (who read the book when I was freaking out). I love ALL my readers and appreciate you guys so much!
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WHAT TO READ NEXT
* * *
The Billionaire Surprise Series
The Billionaire Love Match
The Billionaire Benefactor
The Billionaire Land Baron
The Billionaire’s Masquerade Ball
The Billionaire’s Secret Heir
* * *
Sandover Island Sweet Romance Series
Sandover Beach Memories
Sandover Beach Week
Sandover Beach Melodies
Sandover Beach Christmas
* * *
Not So Bad Boy Sweet Romance Series
Stealing the Bad Boy
Forgiving the Football Player
Winning the Cowboy
Taming the Cowboy’s Twin
* * *
Managing the Rock Star
Where Is Sandover Island?
I grew up going to Nag’s Head, staying at the Sea Ranch and in one-bathroom beach cottages with ten people. We went to Newman’s Shell Shop and climbed Jockey’s Ridge and ate ice cream at the Snowbird. Once, I had my boogie board broken in half by a wave as a Nor’easter rolled in.
These are some of my greatest beach memories and they absolutely helped me create Sandover Island. But I chose to create fictional island because I couldn’t do the REAL Outer Banks justice. They are completely perfect and lovely. For those of you who hold them dear, as I do, writing in any changes would be like blasphemy. I also still see the islands as they were in the 80s and 90s, not as they are today.
We all have our own memories tied up in those real places. Anything in my books that didn’t line up with your experiences would jar you right out of the book. I don’t want you pulled out of the story by factual inaccuracies or something that might be from my memory, not your own.
No, Sandover isn’t real and it wouldn’t really fit on a map of the Carolina Coast. But if you love the Outer Banks as I do, when you think of Sandover, know that I’m thinking of Nag’s Head and Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk. Suspend belief for a bit and picture one more island with the Sound on one side and the Atlantic on the other. Let those good memories you have fill in the gaps and help you hear the ocean and feel the sand between your toes.
And if you’ve never been to the Outer Banks?? Oh, my. Let this book help you fall in love and then get ye to the Carolina Coast!
Also by Emma St. Clair
Sandover Island Sweet Romance Series
Sandover Beach Memories
Sandover Beach Week
Sandover Beach Memories
Sandover Beach Christmas
* * *
Not So Bad Boy Sweet Romance Series
Stealing the Bad Boy
Forgiving the Football Player
Winning the Cowboy
Taming the Cowboy’s Twin
Managing the Rock Star
* * *
The Billionaire Surprise Series
The Billionaire Love Match
The Billionaire Benefactor
The Billionaire Land Baron
The Billionaire’s Masquerade Ball
The Billionaire’s Secret Heir
Sandover Beach Memories Page 22